Japanese satellite to twinkle messages in Morse code

Japan is sending a tiny radio satellite into space designed to
twinkle like a star and write messages across the night sky in
Morse code.

The 10cm-cubed, 1.33kg satellite was onboard the unmanned H-2
Transfer Vehicle-3 -- a cargo vessel delivering supplies -- when it
set out for the International Space Station on 20 July, 2012. In September,
Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will release the satellite into
orbit using a robotic arm.

The satellite -- known as Fitsat-1 and built by the Fukuoka Institute of Technology
(FIT) -- is fitted with a neodymium magnet that will force it to
always face north, a 5.8GHz parabolic antenna to direct the
satellite's signals and a series of LED lights that will flash in
200W-powered pulses. The pulses -- which the team hope will be
visible in the night's sky with only the naked eye -- will in fact
be a carefully sequenced Morse code beacon.

The idea is that the team will be able to learn more about the
efficacy of Morse code light signals as a communication technique
between satellites in space. Using a telescope and a
photo-multiplier device, the team at FIT will be able to spot the
code in the sky, with the magnet ensuring the satellite and its
antenna will always be facing Fukuoka's station. The morse
code light sequence will operate for about three minutes during
each orbit.